Recent advances in digital printing technology have made it possible to implement digital, i.e., bit map addressable, printing for the purpose of evidencing payment of postage by a postage-meter-like device. The computer driven printer can print the postal indicia in a desired location on the face of a mail piece. As used herein the postal indicia may include a Postal Revenue Block or PRB. The PRB typically contains data such as the postage value, a unique identification number, the date and in some applications the name of the place where the mail is originating. In order to distinguish a postage-meter-like device from a conventional postage meter, it will be called herein a Postage Evidencing Device or PED.
From the Post Office's point of view, it will be appreciated that the use of such digital printing makes it fairly easy to counterfeit the PRB since any suitable computer and printer may be used to generate multiple images.
Many of these new PED systems will be using printers that can print otherwise legitimate indicia that are indistinguishable from others that are simply being used without any attempt to purchase postage and will be used for other purposes as well. A typical situation might occur where a mailer closed or went out of business without notifying the manufacturer or returning the PED or the computer and printer may be sold. The further use of the meter would be outside postal regulations but such use may be difficult to easily spot during high speed processing of the mail stream.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,864,506 and 4,787,045 describe a postage meter system connected to a telephone line which will not print postage after the meter has been without power for a preset length of time. The meter may be reset by a telephone connection or may be locked out and require the operator to take the meter to the Post Office for revalidation. The meter may also be taken out of service by communication with a data center.
U.K. 2,251,210A to Gilham describes a meter that contains an electronic calendar to inhibit operation of the franking machine on a periodic basis to ensure that the user conveys accounting information to the postal authorities.
While the foregoing systems operate to assure that the meter will not allow postage to be printed, there is nothing that will necessarily alert the user to the status of the PED.